A Prescott Valley-area woman waited six months to receive payment after her furniture sold at an Anthem consignment store — and it took an on-the-ground investigation to finally get her the money she was owed.
Phyllis wanted to consign a leather power reclining sofa that was only 18 months old.
"There's a consignment store in Prescott that I have purchased things from in the past, so I called them to see if they could take my sofa, but it was too large for their facility," Phyllis said.
That store referred her to J & B Furniture Consignment. Phyllis connected with Barbara, the store's owner, and the two agreed on terms.
"We talked about the leather power reclining sofa that was only 18 months old and agreed upon a selling price of between $950 and
$999," Phyllis said.
Phyllis signed a contract with Barbara outlining a 50/50 split and a 90-day consignment period. After 90 days with no sale, both agreed to lower the asking price.
"We both agreed on reducing the price to $900 — $895 actually," Phyllis said.
Shortly after, Barbara called and told her the sofa had been sold.
"She said she sold it for seven and a quarter ($725)and that I would be receiving a check," Phyllis said.
But the check never arrived. "Then I left messages about not receiving any money," Phyllis said.
After months of unanswered calls and no payment, Phyllis reached out to Let ABC15 Know.
"I was so surprised that within just a couple of days a volunteer named Joe contacted me," Phyllis said. "He made me feel like he was a best friend and he was very informative and he was sympathetic."
BBB volunteer Joe contacted the store owner, who also reassured him that a check was in the mail. Weeks passed — and Phyllis still had nothing.
In all, six months went by with no answers and no payment after her sofa was sold.
"I'm up in Prescott Valley and it's very difficult for me to drive all the way down to Anthem," Phyllis said, who is also dealing with health issues.
Since Phyllis couldn't make the trip, I did. Our Let ABC15 Know team drove to J & B Furniture Consignment to get answers.
The store owner, Barbara, declined to speak on camera but agreed to show me Phyllis' account, where I saw the outstanding balance owed to her, an amount
over $350. Barbara said she didn't have any checks on hand but agreed to pay Phyllis via Zelle.
Two days later, Phyllis sent a message confirming she received her money.
Problem Solved!
"I want to say what you're doing is a real public service," Phyllis said. "And I thank you all so very much!"
When I asked Barbara why it took so long to pay what she owed Phyllis, she said she never intended not to pay her.
